Bama Central Courtside: Alabama Basketball 82, Ole Miss 64

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama basketball opened SEC play in solid fashion on Tuesday night in Coleman Coliseum, defeating Ole Miss 82-64.

Sophomore guard Jahvon Quinerly led the Crimson Tide in points with an impressive 24 on the night. Fellow sophomore guard Jaden Shackelford led the team in rebounds with seven.

“I thought it was a good win," Oats said. "Ole Miss was top-10 in the nation in defensive efficiency. We made some free throws, we put some points up and I thought our guys played hard. We moved the ball around well, we had a few too many turnovers, they turn people over. I like the energy, I thought the bench was great.

"[John Petty Jr.] really gave us a boost and Shack, even though he did not shoot it well, he won the blue-collar hard hat deal. He led us in plus/minus, so he is really getting the hang of guarding tough hard-nose players. I thought we got great minutes from everybody throughout the game. We got out-rebounded, which is disappointing, but our defense was good enough to hold them. We still won the second chance points.”

While Alabama was out-rebounded by Ole Miss 47-46, the Crimson Tide was able to counteract the Rebels by outdoing them in second-chance points, 18-9.

Another stat that helped Alabama was Ole Miss' abysmal three-point percentage on the night. In 40 minutes of gameplay, the Rebels were only able to ring one of 13 attempts from beyond the arc.

Bama Central's own Cary L. Clark and Tyler Martin break down the Crimson Tide's SEC-opening win over the Rebels.